Round-the-Clock Purple and Gold

Brandon Jennings says Kobe Bryant shouldn't appear in Drew League

August 30, 2011 | 11:43
am

If Kobe Bryant agrees to play in a proposed Drew League-Goodman League rematch, thousands of L.A. fans would flock to wherever the game takes place. And if he does, it appears Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings would go on his own "birther" campaign, like Donald Trump did with President Barack Obama.

"He wasn't born and raised in L.A," Jennings told ESPN the Magazine's Chris Palmer regarding Bryant, who attended Lower Merion near Philadelphia. "You gotta be from L.A. for Drew. Show me a birth certificate."

It remains unclear if this game will actually take place. Drew League officials, including Commissioner Oris "Dino" Smiley," hope they can host the game Sept. 10 at a venue with at least 5,000 capacity, such as USC's Galen Center or Loyola Marymount University's Gersten Pavilion. But they have maintained that no new developments have taken place since a series of meetings last week, including ones with Bryant's representatives.

This isn't the first time Jennings threw lobs at Bryant. He posted a photo of himself on Twitter wearing a promotional t-shirt that read: “NOBODY LIKES A SNAKE,” referring to Bryant's "Black Mamba" nickname. Jennings then acted unimpressed with Bryant scoring 43 points and the game winner in a Drew League game: "Yea where he at next I’m playing I need THAT! Lol.” And now this.

It's puzzling because Brandon before had sung Bryant's praises. Even though the Compton native would benefit from playing alongside Bryant, his gripes point more to his belief that the Drew League is compromising its roots in representing L.A. players. Jennings, after all, reiterated to Palmer the same thing he told me at the 2010 ESPY awards.

"The [Lakers] got the best player in the game right now, Kobe Bryant, hands down," Jennings said. "The guys has five rings and won two of them without Shaq. The man is the best player in the league."